British jet crashes at Afghan base

An RAF fighter crashed inside Nato’s largest base in southern Afghanistan today, but the crew managed to eject.

The Tornado crashed inside Kandahar Airfield during takeoff at 7.20am Afghanistan time (3.50am Irish time).

The two crew are being treated for unspecified injuries at the base hospital.

The Tornado is the fourth aircraft to go down in Afghanistan in three days and the sixth this month.

Military officials say there does not appear to be a common reason for the spate of crashes beyond coincidence.

There was no indication that insurgent activity caused the latest crash but officials could not immediately say why the plane went down. The jet caught fire and emergency personnel responded.

The incident came a day after a Russian-owned civilian Mi-8 helicopter crashed at the same base, killing 16 people on board.

Two aircraft also went down on Saturday. A US Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet crashed in central Afghanistan, killing two crew members. A US helicopter also made what the military calls a “hard landing” the same day. Several troops were injured.